Super Mario Bros Ghost Story
by Ilikedragon8
Summary: The long story of a perilous adventure. Mario and Luigi face a great danger like never before, when a mysterious portal opens, and monstrous ghosts escape into their world. my first fanfic, and could anyone show me how to indent on this site?
1. Three Ghosts

Luigi was very good at catching ghosts. He was proud of this, since it was really the _only_ thing Mario couldn't best him at. (Well, other than cleaning.) He reveled in walking past the cowering victims that called him up for help and seeing their fear turn to relief when they laid eyes on him. Countless times, they would hug him and tell him how they wished they were as brave as him. There was only one thing wrong with that of course- Luigi wasn't brave at all.

Far from it! This is what Luigi was trying to explain to Mrs. Higgly, the latest client. She was a squat little mushroom lady (actually they're all a bit squat, but she was _significantly_ squatter than average) with a purple mushroom cap and a pair of round glasses that had a habit of sliding down her nose-less face. "Nobody can outrun me when I'm fleeing for my life." Luigi said with a thick Italian accent, and noticed a hint of confusion pass behind Mrs. Higgly's eyes. "So, therein lies my secret, I suppose. I am so scared while I work; my senses are heightened to extraordinary levels and I can do anything." It was quiet for a few moments. "You _can_ get rid of that ghost, right?" Mrs. Higgly said eventually, and pushed up the glasses that had slid down her face once again. "Of course he can! The man is a lean, green, ghost-catching machine! Literally." laughed a voice from behind. A little koopa troopa was standing outside a truck just a few feet away.

The side of the truck displayed a company logo that said, "MUSHROOM KINGDOM PARANORMAL RESEARCHERS: Haunted Pest Control Unit. _The best in the biz since not that long ago!" _The koopa was holding a clipboard in her claws as she walked from the truck. She smiled at him and then patted Mrs. Higgly on the head saying, "Don't you worry, ma'am. Well have that thing out of there in no time," her glance shifted to Luigi again, "Unless of course, you screw up for the very first time tonight." The koopa winked. Luigi nodded shakily and tightened his jacket around his shoulders. It was cold...unusually so for a summer evening. "Yeah..." he mumbled, and turned towards the site of the haunting. Mrs. Higgly's mansion sat on a nearby hill, and the lights shining though the windows shimmered warmly on the lawn. The scene looked very mundane to him.

Luigi didn't notice the shadow move across the=2 0lawn. It was the shadow of something unseen. He didn't see it slither around the side of the mansion and into one of the windows, and he certainly didn't see what happened a moment later that caused all the lights in the house to shut off, leaving the house and the lawn in darkness, aside from the soft glow coming from the headlights on the truck. The koopa and Mrs. Higgly looked as puzzled as Luigi when darkness suddenly surrounded them. The koopa was the first to speak. "I guess it wants to play with the lights now. Remember to try and turn them back on when you get inside- it's a good chance that the ghost only shut them off because it doesn't like them."

"But they all went off at the same time, Nessy. What if it messed with the fusebox?" Luigi grumbled. "Then you'll have to use your flashlight!" The koopa hissed, and then pressed the clipboard she was holding into Luigi's hands adding, "Oh, I almost forgot. Here's Mrs. Higgly's report." She turned back to Mrs. Higgly and smiled sweetly. "Why don't you go and sit in the back of the truck while you wait for us to get started. There are several comfortable seats, magazines, television, and an expresso machine!" she said in her most professional voice. Mr.s Higgly who had been standing there, occasionally repositioning her glasses, nodded, and headed wearily for the truck. Nessy returned her attention to Luigi. "So. ..looking at her description of the entity, it seems to me that it's most likely a grabber-ghost."

"Great. I hate those things! They're so...for lack of better words: grabby."

"Nobody likes them, you nut! Now go get your gear and let me wire in your headset. We're stalling here!" Nessy spun around and headed for the truck once more while Luigi gathered together his Poltergust 3000 and prepared for the trek into the mansion. "Oh mansions," he sighed, "Why is it always mansions? _Dark_ mansions at that!" he finished strapping the heavy vacuum to his back and picked up his headset from the truck, and then headed towards the great house on the hill.

At the front steps, Luigi heard Nessy's voice through the headset. "Working?" she asked. "Yeah, loud and clear, partner." Luigi's ghost hunting gear was a lot more advanced nowadays. He had a camera with him that he could use to snap pictures and immediately send them to the truck so Nessy could analyze them. The headset allowed him communication with both Nessy and Professor E. Gadd, the head of the research team. ( Unfortunately, the professor was only available to chat on Tuesdays.) Luigi placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly, stepping inside the house. A lamp sat on a little table in the cramped mudroom. He eagerly hurried over to it, accidentally bumping a coat rack and a painting on the way. He reached for the little button that turned it on and clicked it twice. Nothing happened. With a little snort of frustration, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his trusty flashlight, which he had carefully checked to make sure it had new batteries.

Beyond the mudroom was the foyer- it was small, but elegant, and as clean as could be. He rubbed his finger against one of the banisters near the stairs. Not a speck of dust. Luigi liked. He looked around and held his hand to his ear, hoping (or rather _not_ hoping) to hear any sign of ghost activity. He tried flipping on the other lights in the foyer, in case the one in the mudroom had a busted bulb or something along those lines, but these lights didn't work either. Luigi moved onto the kitchen and the dining room, which were sort of connected to each other, and finding nothing, decided to head for the basement. He figured it would be best if he could fix whatever the ghost did to the fuse box and get some lighting, instead of wandering aimlessly in the dark and wasting precious batteries.

The basement w as quite small, and about as clean as the other areas in the house he had visited. Luigi _really_ liked. The fuse box sat in a corner and he flipped open the cover to begin. He had to look again to make sure what he had seen was correct. The box was completely untampered with, and everything seemed to be in working order. He poked it for good measure, took a picture of it, and then whispered into the mic, "See that? I tried turning some of the lights on, but I got nothing. If the fuse box is untouched, that means one of a couple things. Either there's been a power outage or this ghost is doing something weird that I have yet to understand." Nessy did not answer him. She seldom did unless she had a question about the information he sent her. Shrugging, he turned around and left the basement, still snapping photos as he went about. He decided to go into the living room.

Luigi stood in the entranceway to the living room, frozen in place. His hand was on his camera, finger ready for snapping pictures, but he couldn't bring himself to move. Sitting on a sofa that was resting awkwardly in the center of the room, was a grabber-ghost. The grabber-ghost was as still as Luigi, with wide, glowing eyes oddly staring into space, and its mouth was hanging open in a contorted way- like20a mouth that was screaming. Most ghosts glowed brilliantly, but this one was dim, and it had yet to move. Strangest of all in the situation, was the fact that it wasn't the ghost that had Luigi frozen to the spot, but the image floating just above its head. There were words hanging in midair that seemed as though they were almost scratched into the air itself. They were dark, slightly vibrating...barely readable...but Luigi could make them out. They said, "Go Away."

Terrified, Luigi pulled his arm up and clicked the button on his camera to take a photo of the startling scene. He was sure Nessy would ask about it, but she was silent. Luigi wasn't sure he would have been capable to form words even if she had. Edging closer to the ghost, he noticed the grip it had on the armrests. The ghost's long arms were stretched out to full length, and the fingers curved halfway into the upholstery. Gathering all the bravery he had, Luigi walked up to the ghost and reached out to it only to feel ice run through his knuckles as he submerged his hand into its chest, despite having gloves on. He recoiled and looked hard at its face. The ghost was definitely showing an expression of fear, perhaps even greater than Luigi's. "Nessy..." he squeaked into the mic. He awaited an answer but there was still nothing. "Answer me..." he said, fearful and angry. Silence. _There must be something wrong, _he thought to himself as he stared into the empty eyes of the frozen ghost.

Not knowing what else to do, Luigi turned on the Poltergust 3000 and vacuumed up the ghost. To his dismay, the lettering also vanished when the ghost did. He had been hoping to get a closer look at it, for it was unlike any ghost-magic he had ever encountered before. As soon as he was done, he decided he'd do just as the floating words had demanded and hightail it out of the creepy mansion. He hadn't made it past the kitchen when he heard a voice that made him drop his flashlight on the spot and cry out sheer terror. The voice was loud and sudden, and it seemed to surround him rather than come from any one direction- it was the most horrible voice Luigi had ever heard in his life. "Should have moved on long before now!" it resonated through the building, and then a laugh erupted from the ceiling. Luigi jumped out of his skin and pointed the end of the Poltergust 3000 upwards to see a shadow engulfing the ceiling...a shadow that seemed to belong to no one.

Like it was climbing out of a pool of ink, a figure emerged from the shadow. First there came an arm- a long lanky one with t hree fingers tipped with claws. Then there came the body, round and shaped almost identically like a boo's, but the eyes glowed white and whereas a boo had sharp little fangs, this creature had tusks and other teeth jutting out of it's mouth at strange angles. The other arm emerged, and then, floating right above him, was a creature that Luigi could not recognize. It was black as the shadow from which it had crawled, and it was still laughing. It reached for him, and he only just managed to dive from it's clutches as it swiped. Standing up, he had only a second to dive yet again, as the creature howled with wicked laughter and tried to snatch him up yet again. Luigi was so frightened that he was on the verge of tears. He spun around in circles, looking out for the creature, but it had vanished. He listened carefully, trying to hear where the thing might have gone, but his heart was hammering in his ear, deafening him. He noticed something move at the top of the stairs and saw two huge potted plants floating just over the rails near the top...right over his head. He booked it for the front door just in time, as the plants fell and the pots shattered into a million pieces directly on the spot he had previously occupied.

In all his years of hunting ghosts, he had been attacked before. Once he had a book thrown at his head. Another time, he had a ro w of sinks blast water at him. Yet another time, he had a ghost give him a wedgie. (He tried very hard to forget that one.) Never had a ghost ever tossed something so huge at him before. It was apparent that this spirit was trying to _kill_ him. Luigi dived into the mudroom and desperately grabbed the handle to the front door, but it wouldn't budge. The evil laughter rang from behind him. He spun around screaming into his earpieces, "HELP! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" The dark ghost picked up the lamp that Luigi had tried to switch on earlier and chucked it violently at his head. Luigi cringed and felt it smash inches from his face. His ear stung moments later and felt something warm drip into it. The ghost looked aggrivated. Still screaming and kicking at the door, Luigi didn't see the ghost pick up the table that the lamp had been resting on. It lifted the table above itself, the skinny arms clearly more powerful than one would think at first glance, and with an amused chuckle, tossed it at Luigi.

Luigi hardly felt the impact. His vision went blurry and he sank to his knees. Above him, the shape of the dark ghost loomed, reaching out for something. It lifted a piece of splintered wood from the table and raised it's arm to strike.

Suddenly, a round, brilliantly white blur appeared, and the dark ghost snarled with rage. They dove at each other, each shape becoming fuzzier with each second... Luigi could hear them shouting, but didn't understand what was being said, while his consciousness slowly slipped away. He noticed the dark shape backing off, and then finally disappear after a few moments. All went black.

Moments before, however, he could have sworn he heard a strange voice say, "Have no fear, friend."

END OF PART ONE.


	2. A Name to a Face

There was a soft beeping coming from somewhere, rustles of cloth and footsteps, and soft voices. Luigi opened his eyes, and then closed them when a bright light blinded him. "Luigi?" said a familiar voice. The second time he opened them, he was staring into a pair of big purple eyes he knew belonged to Nessy. "Oh thank goodness! You're awake! That was quite an ordeal you had, huh?" her voice was quiet and sweet, and she put a clawed hand on his forehead. Luigi looked around him and recognized he was in a hospital. There were two chairs pulled up beside his bed, and curtains separating his bed from the others in the room. Behind the curtains he heard doctors and nurses walking about. It took him a moment to see that one of the chairs was occupied by Professor E. Gadd, who looked terribly weary and was sipping away at a coffee. He smiled when Luigi looked at him and waved. "Good to see you up, my boy!" he said.

Nessy backed off and sat in the chair beside Gadd. Luigi felt a sharp pain in his head and covered his face with his hand. "What...what happened?" he asked, his voice raspy from all his screaming. Nessy and Gadd looked at one another. "To be honest...we have no idea. We were hoping you'd be able to tell us that." Gadd said somberly and twirled his coffee cup. "I lost contact with you seconds after you went in that house," Nessy said, tugging at the end of the blue ribbon on her head, "Didn't hear a word you said, or receive a single picture. I heard slamming on the front door and Mrs. Higgly and I immediately ran over and tried to bust it open, but it wouldn't budge! It on ly gave way after a few minutes, and there you were on the floor." Nessy looked like she was about to break into tears. "I'm so sorry, Luigi!" she sniffed. Luigi weakly chuckled. "It's not your fault." he said, and then winced at the sharp pain that poked his brain.

Everyone remained quiet for a time, when Gadd spoke up. "Is there _anything_ you remember? Anything at all? I would certainly be interested in whatever that ghost was thinking when it gave you that unsightly bump on your head." Luigi reached up and felt around his hair. The bump was as big as a golf ball. "Not to mention the white hair..." Nessy said softly, and at this comment, Luigi woke up a bit more. "White hair? What white hair!?" he said very quickly and then looked around for any shiny surface in which to see his reflection. He found a metal tray near his bed and snatched it. The tips of his hair had all turned white. He was flabbergasted. "I look ridiculous!" he shouted. (Or at least _tried_ to shout. His voice was pretty much gone by now.) "Where's my hat?" he demanded. Nessy giggled, despite her sad expression. "It's with the Poltergust 3000 and some of the other things that you dropped." A thought came to Luigi's mind. "Did you open the vacuum? I caught a ghost...but it's messed up and-" he was interrupted by Gadd. "Oh yes. That specimen did bring up a few questions. Questions unfortunately, that may very well have to go a while without answers. Unless of course...you can tell me what you remember about the incident..." he sounded a little impatient, and it was then that Luigi realized he had strayed from answering him.

"Well, the ghost I captured was not the one that gave me this," and he pointed at the swollen lump poking out from under his snow-fringed hair, "It was a second ghost...a really scary one that I'm afraid...is not one that I'm familiar with." E. Gadd nodded. "Yes, yes...do you remember what it looked like?" he asked, clearly eager to hear about it. "Of course! I'll never forget that thing as long as I live!" Luigi choked, and shivered at the mere memory of it. "Excellent!" Gadd exclaimed, and pulled a huge tome out from under his chair. He slapped it on Luigi's chest, knocking the air out of him. "What's this? Homework?" Luigi complained, and examined the cover. The book was called "THE COMPLETE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GHOSTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM." by Dr. Edwin VanJenkins. "Hardly," the professor said in a defensive tone, "This is just a bit of light reading, really. Go ahead, look through it and see if you c an find that ghost. I'm going to talk to the doctor a second." Gadd got up and with a swish, he vanished behind the curtain.

Luigi thumbed through the worn pages and scanned each picture. He wasn't seeing anything he didn't already know. "BOOS," said page sixty five, "The most devious of all the spirits in our vast world, and by far the most famous as well." He peered over the edge of the book to see Nessy tugging at her ribbon again. He had never seen her without it. When she saw him looking at her she said, "I told him not to bring along that book. I swear...he's more concerned about that stupid ghost than your wellbeing." she snorted and then leaned back in her chair. Luigi continued to flip through the pages. "You said that you lost contact with me? I wonder if it had any connection to the power failure in the house..." he suggested, and flipped another page. Nessy tilted her head in thought and then nodded in agreement. "I suppose. But then again, how could it?"

"The ghost..." Luigi whispered, and then shoved his nose back in his book. Gadd returned from talking to the doctor. "Good news, you'll be out of here by noon."

Luigi gasped. "What!?" shouted Gadd excitedly, and most likely woke the person sleeping in the next bed over,"Did you find the ghost?"

"No," said Luigi in a panicked voice, "Tomorrow everybody is going to throw Mario a surprise birthday party at the castle. It's a week early see, so he won't expect it- but I'm supposed to stall him all morning by running errands." Gadd looked thwarted. "I have to be out early tomorrow morning."Luigi begged, as if Gadd had any say in it. "You can't! You took a nasty blow to the head and you have a concussion Which by the way," she aimed at Gadd, "Is why he shouldn't be reading right now." Nessy snapped. Luigi shook his head. "You really don't understand. Everyone is going to be there! Daisy's even flying in from Sarasaraland and I really want to..." He noticed Gadd and Nessy both give him a sly look. "See her." Luigi concluded. His audience shot him disappointed expressions.

Luigi continued to rant about how the plan would be wrecked for several minutes, all the while flipping through the ghost book when something caught his eye. Near the back of the book under P, was a familiar sight. A terribly familiar sight. Luigi went pale and pointed a shak y finger at the drawing. "Here...here it is..." he muttered, and handed the book over to Gadd. The professor did not take it. Instead he took off his glasses and leaned forward to peek at it. After a moment he began to laugh. "It's not funny!" Luigi growled. The professor couldn't stop giggling. "No, no...my dear boy! You didn't see a poltergeist!" Gadd placed is glasses back on his face but they almost fell off again on account of him shaking with laughter. "What do you mean I didn't see it!? I was there- this IS the creature that I saw, there's no question. It tried to KILL me!" The sharp pain zipped through his head again as he spoke, but he was so angry that he didn't care. "But Luigi," began, "It's not possible for you to have seen _this _ghost, because this ghost simply does not exist! It's a myth...and one that's simply brimming with balderdash!"

"A story? What story? This book hardly says anything about them..." Luigi examined the single paragraph underneath the drawing of the dark, lanky armed ghost. "It doesn't matter," Gadd had stopped laughing by now, sniffed, and continued, "Perhaps it was a chameleon shade?" he suggested.

Luigi snapped the book shut. "No. This was no chameleon shad e. I saw a poltergeist. But...hold on...I thought poltergeist was just another word for ghost." Luigi put the book beside his bed and looked quizzically at the professor. "Yes, well that comes from the myth. According to the myth, long ago, poltergeists were the only ghosts that haunted people. So- before long, "poltergeist" became a term that people used to describe entities that haunted their homes, no longer applying it to a single type of species." Gadd explained monotonously, "As if there really were ACTUAL poltergeists at one time..." he added a second afterwards. Luigi tugged his mustache and nodded as he listened. Nessy had been quiet for a time, but was gathering questions of her own. "How do you know they're not real? All myths and legends are based on some sort of truth you know. Those truths get stretched to epic proportions, but they're still there...maybe there was a poltergeist or two once." she suggested as she wrapped and unwrapped the tips of her ribbon around her claws.

Gadd was getting angry. "For the sake of all that is good! Listen to me. The entire story revolves around these limitlessly evil ghosts that don't exist, that get sealed into an underworld that doesn't exist...apparently by way of every single ghost in the WORLD combining their powers together or something absolutely false like that. NOW PLEASE! Hear me out on this. There are no poltergeists! I'ts NEVER been proven. Never will be proven- so drop it, shut it off, forget about it, END of story!" he finished, very much out of breath, and then sat stiffly with his arms folded across his chest. "How do you know?" Nessy said quite calmly afterwards. Gadd looked like he wanted to strangle her. "Because........if there is a such thing as a poltergeist running around- and there isn't- it means that the portal to the underworld- which doesn't exist- has opened." Gadd answered, and his face broke into a smile as he scuffled back a chuckle, "If it was, in fact, opened, then we would all be in very grave danger. VERY grave." Gadd's laughter broke out again. "How grave?" Nessy asked. At this Gadd laughed even harder. "Um, well...lemme think- yeah, the apocalypse-kind." he slapped his knee and almost fell out of his chair. Nessy was silent for some time, and then broke out into laughter too. Luigi was smiling.

"Apocalypse, huh," Luigi said amusedly, and Gadd nodded and leaned back in his chair almost breathless from laughing so hard. Luigi continued to smile and then said, "Well that's too bad, because it was a poltergeist I saw."

It was now one in the morning, and the hospital had grown very quiet.

END OF PART TWO


	3. Discussions Among Royalty

Far away, the lights in the Mushroom Kingdom Castle were on in the throne room. The Princess Peach Toadstool was dressed in a gorgeous nightgown with a light pink train that lay curled around her dainty feet as she sat slumped in her throne. In one hand she held a phone, while her chin rested on the other. Eyes half closed, she was nodding off to sleep. There was some noise coming from behind the large, elaborately decorated chamber doors, and they swung open. Princess Daisy of Sarasaraland entered the room with a big grin on her face and with a gait that resembled skipping. Toadsworth, Princess Peach's caretaker was right behind her, carrying some of Daisy's belongings. The Chancellor, a green topped mushroom man with a big brown mustache and a matching green garb followed Toadsworth.

"Cousin Peachy!" Daisy exclaimed, and held out her arms in need of a hug, had a huge smile spread across her wide-awake face. Peach could only imagine that Daisy had had a nice peaceful flight in, and had probably slept the whole trip. Where else could that energy come from, Peach thought to herself, as she felt very much like a zombie. Daisy was dressed in a little yellow sun dress with a white sweatshirt over it that was emblazoned with a tiny orange flower. She ran to Peach to hug her."Hello, Daisy," Peach practically yawned, "It's good to see you. I hope I'm not offending you in this- less than professional attire. How was your trip?" Daisy released the princess as Toadsworth accidentally dropped all the stuff he was holding. "Good, good. The Chancellor said you'd probably be asleep by the time I arrived, but I guess you were just too excited to see me and decided to stay up all night, eh?" Daisy elbowed Peach in the shoulder a little bit too hard. Peach rubbed the spot and rolled her eyes when Daisy turned her back. "Just kidding! How have things been around these parts? It's been so long since I've visited!" Daisy stretched and sat down on one of the steps that led up to the throne. "Well, not much. Bowser's been unsettlingly quiet as of late. Luigi went to the hospital a couple hours ago, but other than that it has been uneventful in the kingdom."

Daisy looked surprised. "Why is Luigi in the hospital?" she asked with concern. "Mario called not long ago. It's what woke me up actually- Apparently something happened while he was at work...something involving a table landing on his head. Anyway, Mario got a call as soon as Luigi was brought into the emergency room. Poor boy was out cold." Peach straightened her position in the throne and pulled a lock of hair from her face. "That's terrible! I should go visit him..." Daisy said, and stood up. Peach shook her head quickly. "No, Mario might be there. If he sees you, he'll suspect something is going on." Peach said with a grin. Daisy's mouth formed an O, and then she frowned. "Wait...if Luigi's at the hospital, who's going to make sure Mario stays away from the castle until it's time for the party?"

"Mario is going to pick him up from the hospital around noon," Peach yawned again, "It will take him a while to drive to the hospital and then drive back home with Luigi, so we should have about the same amount of time we would have had if Luigi was distracting him in the first place. It all works out really." Peach explained and then put the phone she was holding on one of the throne's arm rests. "Oh I see. What about Wario and Waluigi? Did you guys come u p with a way to keep them from crashing the party like they always do?" Daisy questioned. At this, Peach chortled. "Toad came up with an amazing plan. Combining construction paper with reverse psychology, he's created this little gem." Peach motioned for Daisy to wait a second, while she reached over to a small table beside the throne and shuffled through some papers. She picked up a brightly colored card and handed it to Daisy, still grinning. Daisy snatched it and opened the card. "I had Toad make two copies in case one got lost. We sent the other one out to them already." Daisy read the inscription.

Dear Wario and Waluigi,

GUESS WHAT!? You're invited to Mario's Twenty Fourth Surprise Birthday Party!

That's right! TWENTY FOUR YEARS OLD! Isn't that fantastic!? We want all our beloved friends to be there- which includes YOU- on the last Friday of the month, to join in the celebration. You're welcome to come in early to help set up, or mess up our plans, but remember that the party officially starts at 1:30 pm. Be there or miss the initial surprise part! We can't wait to see your shining faces! THANKS BUNCHES!

With Love,

Signed: Princess Peach Toadstool.

XOXOXO

PS. It's a "surprise" party, but that's a dumb idea, so feel free to spoil it if you want!"

Daisy was on her knees, clutching her stomach. When she calmed down a bit she said, "The best part about this plan is that it's totally going to work! Actually, that's the best part of any plan...except for the ones that don't." She smiled, and Peach tried to wrap her mind around Daisy's brilliant choice of words, but got confused. After that, Peach told Toadsworth to help carry Daisy's bags and suitcase upstairs to her room. Daisy followed him and when all her stuff had been delivered, she began to unpack her toothbrush and pajamas.

A half an hour later, Peach and Daisy were sitting in Daisy's room and chatting. "I wonder what Luigi did to get someone angry enough to throw a table at him." Daisy wondered aloud, biting one of her nails. Peach was realizing she was probably not going to get any more sleep until tomorrow. Daisy continued. "I hope he's alright though. Sweet man, Luigi is." and at this, Peach poked Daisy. "I think you're more concerned about him than the doctors. You two haven't talked in a year or two, correct?" she asked, and Daisy nodded her head slowly. "I've missed you guys so much, especially that little green goofball." Daisy stared into space for a moment and said, "I can't wait to-" but then she stopped herself when she saw that Peach was staring straight at her face wearing a delighted expression. "See him." Daisy said quickly, and Peach looked defeated.

They carried on their little conversations well into the morning, when the sun started to come up. The shadows under Peach's heavy eyelids made it look like she was wearing some sort of makeup and even Daisy's seemingly endless energy had ebbed away. Most of their conversation at this point turned into unintelligible mumbles. Breaking the quiet, Peach's phone began to go off. Like a robot, the princess picked up the phone and mistakingly dialed two before she managed to20correctly coordinate her finger and press the talk button. "Yeah?" she said into the phone, and then horrified with her rudeness, she immediately said, "Hello? Princess Peach Toadstool speaking." It was Toad's scratchy, childish voice that answered. "Ok, so I'm heading out with Toadette and a couple of the kitchen guys to go pick up some last minute decorations. Can you think of anything we forgot? We got the pinata, all sorts of food, candy, rented the bouncy house, arcade's almost all hooked up, and the projector is working again in the mini-theatre. So uh...yeah. Is there anything we're missing?" Toad asked again, his voice muffled through the speaker. Peach shook her head, and then remembering she was on the phone and not in person, answered, "I...I don't know. Just...do some stuff and, you know, right?" Toad didn't reply for a long time. "Yes." he said, and then hung up.

Peach still had the phone pressed to the side of her face long after she was done with it. The princesses stared lazily at one another until Daisy moaned, "We are NOT going to be able to stay awake for this party, Peachy." The phone broke the silence once more. This time...it was Mario. There was a major delay in Peach's reaction time upon hearing his voice. "Hi, Princess. I got a call from the hospital again. They're=2 0letting Luigi go earlier than they expected. I'm going to pick him up right now. Wanna go to breakfast or something when I get back?" he asked. He sounded almost exactly like Luigi on the phone, but in person, his voice was slightly deeper. "No." said Peach sleepily, and then yawned. "Oh...Okee dokee, then...um... see you around? I guess...maybe? Yeah." He almost said something more but then must have changed his mind, because he hung up. Peach put down the phone and looked at Daisy again. "Mario's going to pick up Luigi." she said quietly, and the two just sat there with blank looks once more. All of a sudden they realized what this meant- and Peach recalled what she said to him. "Great...now we have to find some other way to keep him from the castle until 1:30." Daisy said, smacking herself on the forehead.

Some dark clouds were floating in the distance. Rain was on its way.

END OF PART THREE


	4. The Ship and the Box

Several hours before Mario had called Princess Peach, King Bowser of the koopas was huffing and puffing as he trudged up the spiral staircase that lead to the magikoopa's tower. His huge form made it terribly difficult to make it around the sharp turns, and by the time he had neared the top, he was on all fours, gasping for air. Normally, he would never bother going up there, but he had waited hours for Kamek, master magikoopa, to come down and tell him what was going on. He had had quite enough of waiting.

All day he watched a horde of koopas run about on the castle grounds in disorganized masses, obviously trying to start some project that Bowser knew he didn't call for. It had been a long time since he had schemed. In fact, he was pretty sure that he was having trouble scheming on account going through a mid-life crisis. Kamek had told him that he wasn't, but Bowser insisted that he was. Bowser looked up the symptoms on Wikipedia and checked them off one by one. He was desperate to achieve a feeling of youthfulness, felt a deep sense of remorse for goals not accomplished, and was eager to spend time with peers.

While watching his minions doing something without orders from him, it dawned on Bowser that it was probably Kamek that had given the word. He tended to do that sometimes. So, content with his deductions, he waited and waited for Kamek to come down from his tower and explain what he was doing. He didn't get too angry until he saw the hulking airship that pulled into view. It had been in storage for years, untouched, after the first airship he owned had crashed into the sea...thanks to his stupid Koopalings that he allowed to fly it. Kamek _did_ have a decent portion of power in Bowser's kingdom, but this was unacceptable. The king impatiently continued to wait for Kamek to come bursting into the hall to explain everything, but it still never happened. So he finally got up off his throne and headed towards Kamek's tower to confront him.

Bowser crawled up to Kamek's door, weakly raised his fist and then rapped on it twice. The door didn't open, so Bowser knocked on it a few times more. This time, the door cracked open and Bowser saw the glinting of two small glasses from within. The door swung open with an ear-piercing squeak and Kamek was standing there looking confusedly up at Bowser. "Since when do you knock?" the magikoopa asked and then motioned for Bowser to come in. The king squeezed himself through the doorway and looked around for a place to sit, but everything was an absolute mess. Kamek raised his wand and a green blast of something-or-other caused a chair to emerge from a pile of scrolls and potion bottles. Bowser sat in the chair (which happened to be big enough, thank goodness) and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Kamek went over to a table and began to gather together papers and set them in neat piles. It was quiet for a time, when Bowser suddenly shouted, "OK- when are you going to explain!?" His face turned into a vicious scowl and he tapped his claws impatiently on the end of the armrests of his chair. Kamek calmly continued organizing papers. "What do you mean?" the wizard asked.

"The ship! What's with the ship?" Bowser snapped back. Kamek nodded as he looked over one paper. "Oh, THAT! Don't worry about it, your majesty. I'm going on a little trip to get something at the Princess's castle. The whole operation should take no more than a day." Kamek sighed and then tossed the paper he had been examining over his shoulder. Bowser couldn't keep his jaw from dropping. "YOU ARE GOING TO PEACH'S CASTLE.......AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?E2 Bowser roared after he had collected himself.

"Calm yourself!" Kamek shouted back, and raised his hand which seemed to silence the king. "It's not something you should concern yourself with, your majesty...YET." Kamek's lips curled into a small smile. "Since you've spent these past few months brooding rather than plotting, I've come up with a plan myself. It's dangerous, and it might not work. However, I believe it's always worth a shot...don't you?" Kamek said softly. Bowser continued to glare.

"Yeah sure, I guess. What is your plan anyway? Don't just make me sit here all...not-knowing n' stuff." Bowser scratched his chin and waited for Kamek to speak again. The magikoopa finished organizing the pieces of paper on his table and turned to the koopa king with an amused grin on his face.

"Oh it's complicated, I'm afraid. Do you remember a few months ago, when we had attempted to make allies with some of the other peoples of this world?" Kamek questioned. Bowser furrowed his brow and slowly nodded.

"Yeah! How could I forget that!? Being turned down by every single one of them...and especially the way the boos just laughed at us and chased us off..." Bowser clenched his fists and tried to keep from roaring out in anger. Kamek's smile vanished as he recollected the memory, but he spoke up again not long after. "Well...yes. I was ready to trash the idea of a pact with others even before we asked the boos. I was sure that they wouldn't accept a treaty anyhow...but after speaking with them I was reminded of someone else who could help us. Someone...even more powerful than the boos." Kamek's grin returned. Bowser perked up and raised his eyebrow as a gesture for Kamek to continue. "Alas, this person is not quite available at the moment, so we will need to help them before they can help us. One thing required to help this person is inconveniently located inside Princess Peach's castle," Kamek continued, and then strolled over to a large open window that looked over the entire castle. Not far into the distance, the silhouette of the airship loomed up in front of the sunrise. It had finally come off the ground and the rumbling of the engine grew louder as it slowly approached Kamek's tower. Kamek turned to Bowser. "Through some undercover work, I've been informed that the Princess is holding a birthday party at the castle for Mario tonight. I suspect they'll be too surprised to launch much of a defense against us when we arrive, so it shouldn't be a problem getting what we need."

"Wait? You say they're throwing a party for Mario's birthday? It's still a week away!" Bowser piped up. Kamek looked at him, clearly startled. "Why...why would you know that? Kamek said slowly. Bowser looked around nervously and then shrugged. "I keep it marked on the calendar so I can send him a birthday card that usually says somethin' like....HAVE A LOUSY BIRTHDAY JERK...or...YOU'RE OLD HAHA! It makes me feel better when I make fun of someone else's age." Bowser explained, but Kamek didn't seem any less concerned.

A strong breeze began to blow through the open window and tossed the papers around that Kamek had just organized. It carried with it the scent of gasoline. The walls began to tremor slightly, as the airship pulled into view just outside the window. Kamek stretched out his hand and out from under a pile of junk, a broom came rushing to his side. He mounted the broom and then turned one last time towards the king. "I return by tomorrow morning at the earliest. Just relax and let me take care of these affairs. And do try not to ruin anything in my tower on your way out." Kamek grumbled to him, and then flew off towards the ship.

After it had started up again and began to move on past the window, Bowser clambered over to the window and watched it until it disappeared. He couldn't help but feel slightly left out. He slowly headed back for the door when he suddenly heard a screech and a ton of clattering come from one of the corners of the tower. He looked towards the sound and noticed a large black box that seemed to be covered in glowing letters. Before he could get a closer look, a toadie came down from a small wood staircase that led to the upper floor of the tower. He almost tripped over his little red cloak while rushing down the stairs, but saved himself by quickly spinning the propeller on his head and gliding back onto his feet. He hurried over to the box, gave it a good kick and shouted, "Ah shut it, you!" He bent over and picked up a blanket, which he promptly used to cover the box. The box fell silent again. Bowser only stood there looking perplexed. The toadie noticed him standing there and took a nervous bow before heading for the stairs again. "HEY," Bowser shouted to the toadie, "What's in the box?"

The toadie looked around before he said quietly and quickly, "Oh, It's nothing, you're maj esty. Pretend you didn't hear it." Then the toadie vanished from sight. Bowser, disappointed, mumbled to himself and headed back for the exit. He couldn't help but take one last glance at the covered box before leaving.

END OF PART 4


End file.
